ALVARO & ALVARO

Growing up, my dad was a strict figure in my life, and I never thought of him as a friend. But beneath the rules and discipline that sometimes scared me, there was a caring side to him. 

When I was 10, I wanted more than anything a pet monkey. I grew up in Colombia. To my amazement, my dad who was a helicopter pilot, actually arranged for a monkey to be delivered to our door.  My excitement quickly turned to terror, when I found myself face to face with a monkey bigger than I was and turned and ran away. Needless to say, my desire for a pet monkey disappeared at that moment and the monkey was sent back with the men who had brought it. Only when I look back now, can I appreciate the effort Dad made to get me that pet monkey that I wanted so badly, even if I didn’t keep it. 

As I've grown older, my dad and I have gradually become closer. While he remains stubborn, I've noticed a softer Dad in his older years. Despite the physical distance between us (with him in Colombia and me in Melbourne), he recently came to visit, and it felt right to capture the moment. While I'm unsure if my dad is my "mate" in the traditional sense, I can say that he's the dad I love, and as time passes, we are finding that something between father and friend which is pretty amazing. We talk every week and are closer now than any other point in our lives.

~ Alvaro